Drawing the line: hyperbikes

If motorcyclists think about hybrid automobiles at all, these thoughts aren't exciting. Hybrids might be green and politically correct, but they also tend to be relatively heavy and slow. It's much more fun to think about how motorcycles leave most cars--hybrid and conventional alike--in the dust. But recently, a new type of car has appeared that could challenge our thinking on hybrid performance potential.

The motoring press has nicknamed these hybrid supercars "hypercars," and they are best described as hybrids with serious attitude. Electricity is treated as a power-adder--not a replacement for internal combustion. Ferrari, McLaren, Porsche, and Acura have all announced hypercars, and each company does it differently. All use different percentages of electric power relative to internal combustion, from a low of 20 percent to a high of 46 percent. Range possible in all-electric mode varies from zero to about 20 miles.

By: www.notey.com

 

Ferrari's (unfortunately named) LaFerrari, slated to appear in 2014, is the most extreme example of this breed. Combining an internal-combustion V-12 with an electric powertrain, the LaFerrari produces 950 hp. Scaling around 3,450 pounds, that's approximately 3.8 pounds per horsepower, after adding a driver and fuel. A power-to-weight ratio like that makes even Kawasaki's Ninja ZX-14R, which carries 4 pounds per pony, look a bit anemic (though Ducat's Panigale, with its 1:2.8 power-to-weight ratio, still shines). Suddenly, hybrids are looking like the hottest thing on four wheels. Should motorcyclists be dreaming about hybrid bikes?

Cars need hybrid drive systems to approach motorcycle performance, but do bikes need to gohybrid? Not until fuel efficiency needs to improve. But still, it's interesting to consider what such a hyperbike might look like. Adding an electric powertrain will make weight and packaging a major chal-lenge--there's never enough room on a motorcycle for extra stuff. A compact engine like the turbocharged, 588cc parallel twin in the recent Suzuki Recursion concept bike, said to produce 100 hp with strong torque, might be a good starting point.

 By: www.totalmotorcycle.com

A 30-hp electric motor and a 2.5 kW-h battery might add 80 pounds. If the whole package weighed less than 500 pounds, it could be an exciting motorcycle--not exactly a hyperbike but a step in that direction. A true hyperbike that's both faster and more efficient than a current superbike would require even more focused study of weight and packaging. And a lot of software.

One hybrid car that warrants a closer look is Volkswagen's XL1. Powered by a 50-hp, 800cc diesel paired with a 27-hp electric motor, acceleration and outright performance are closer to a conventional hybrid. But the XL1 outcompetes hypercars in one area--fuel efficiency--delivering a remarkable 261 miles per gallon. Aerodynamic efficiency is so good that it requires just 8 hp to maintain 62 mph.

A motorcycle would need to be fully enclosed to match the XL1's impressive 0.19 coefficient of drag. I've discussed enclosed bikes like the Peraves Monotracer here before but not in the context of hybrid power. The Monotracer currently uses BMW internal-combustion power, though the company has won an automotive X-Prize with an electric prototype. What sort of fuel efficiency might we see from something like the Monotracer with a sophisticated hybrid drivetrain similar to what powers the Volkswagen XL1? Perhaps 350 mpg?

By: www.asphaltandrubber.com

Now, rather than an economy-minded hybrid, consider an XL-based hypercar: During a recent presentation to engineering students at the Vienna University of Technology, Volkswagen Chairman Ferdinand Piech revealed an illustration of what was reportedly a racing variant of the XL1, called the XL Sport. The 800cc diesel would be replaced by the 1,198cc V-twin from Ducati's 1199 Panigale superbike, tied to an electronic powertrain. That's exactly the sort of hybrid technology that performance-hungry motorcycle enthusiasts will get excited about--and somewhere inside that project might be the makings of the first true hyperbike.